Prescription meds kill every 2 days

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I love my job, but sometimes I hate what I learn: On average, the prescription drug epidemic takes an Orange County life every two days.

Examining Orange County coroner records covering hundreds of opioid-related deaths over two years, I found that the number of deaths caused by opiates is actually increasing.

I also discovered that more women are dying – and that their death rate is now so high in certain age groups that female deaths exceed male deaths.

Orange County women middle-age and older appear to be particularly susceptible to accidental overdoses of medicines such as Vicodin, Opana and OxyContin.

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting more deaths from drug overdoses than car crashes, it's time to learn – and act.

I reviewed deaths for all of 2011 and through October last year, the latest month available with causes of death. Accordingly, I adjusted the numbers so both periods match.

Through October 2012, Orange County lost 159 people to accidental opioid overdoses.

With multiple drugs involved, it's clear nearly all deaths stem from addictions that started in medicine cabinets.

If this issue sounds familiar, it is. I started writing about opiate overdoses several years ago.

Last year, I detailed the death of San Clemente resident Joey Kennedy, a young addict whose death was all too typical. The series exposed problems in probation, jail releases and emergency services.

I hoped for positive change. But after poring over coroner reports and crunching numbers, there is little good news.

Beach cities continue to see larger percentages than inland cities of young people dying, especially those under 25. Countywide, we average the death of a young person every other week.

This isn't the work of drug cartels. Heroin, an opioid, accounts for only a fraction of deaths. And medical experts point out that many heroin deaths involve people who first abused prescription medication, then moved to the street drug because it's a comparatively cheap opioid.

Through October last year, 28 people in Orange County died of heroin overdoses. During the same time, pharmaceutical drugs were responsible for nearly five times as many deaths.

To be sure, addicts must take responsibility. But so must others. These FDA-approved drugs are mostly manufactured by American companies. And even addled addicts can figure out that the companies produce far more drugs than doctors safely prescribe.

The drugs are obtained and distributed in a variety of ways. Some are stolen from warehouses and drugstores. Others are prescribed by unsuspecting doctors. And still others are prescribed by unscrupulous doctors.

Yet California fails to track drugs and doctors' prescriptions.

The big killers include hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone, oxymorphone (Opana) and methadone – the drug that's supposed to help wean addicts from heroin. That list reveals much of the problem.

While the government spends billions waging the war on illegal drugs, officials fail to tightly control the primary cause of the deadly epidemic – legal drugs.

Last year, I called on pharmaceutical companies to stop manufacturing such drugs. I've reconsidered.

I received emails from people in pain with excellent explanations of why they need meds. When someone agrees to go on the record, I'll tell that point of view.

In the meantime, I'll mention I was prescribed hydrocodone last year for two broken ribs. With excruciating pain bouncing around Africa, I finally popped a pill.

Here are the drugs found in the system of a 26-year-old Ladera Ranch woman who died in August: oxycodone, oxymorphone, promethazine, alprazolam, hydroxyalprazolam, diazepam, nordiazepam, temazepam, oxazepam, meprobamate, carisoprodol.

A pharmacy.

Addicts go to great lengths to satisfy what starts out as euphoria and ends with physical cravings. Parents tell me about children who lie, cheat, steal. They also tell me about children who die.

In the past three years, every city in Orange County has seen fatal overdoses. The victims are as young as 14.

Two years ago, the youngest victim was a 15-year-old Huntington Beach boy. That year, three 16-year-old girls died from overdoses.

Fortunately, no known minors died last year. But the causes of deaths for November and December await.

Yes, it's grim. But keep in mind these numbers are about your neighbors.

Anaheim was the only city that saw what might be called a statistically significant drop. Twenty-eight people died in 2011 (adjusting for the time frame), 19 last year.

Buena Park went from one to six deaths. San Clemente from two to seven.

Two more things stood out as I pored through the numbers searching for new trends. One was an overall drop in the number of male victims, a decrease of 8 percent.

The second was the spike in the number of women who accidentally overdosed, an increase of 25 percent.

With age categories, the statistics grow more alarming. Of women ages 40 and over, the number of deaths jumped from 35 to 49.

A 40 percent increase.

Yet the number of men dying of accidental overdoses in that category dropped by 40 percent.

The reasons for the increase in female deaths remain murky. Hopefully, experts will investigate.

One of the solutions I called for last year was approval of a good Samaritan law that allows drug users to seek medical help without fear of prosecution. With the support of many, that law went into effect this month. Another change I called for was tighter drug controls. On Friday, a federal panel recommended such controls on hydrocodone.

With change, there is hope.

Coroner research analyst Donna Meyers assisted with this report. dwhiting@ocregister.com

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